I really wanted to like this more than I did. Stealing Thunder is adult fantasy about and by a trans woman, and that's a hugely important perspective to have published and on the shelf. Razia is a compelling protagonist, raised as a prince in the Mughal Empire-inspired world, who ran away in her early teens to live as a hijra and has been trained as a courtesan and thief. The insight into her experience is powerful, but as I read I kept waiting for the real story to begin.

Near the beginning of the novel Razia meets her love interest Arjun, who has no depth or character flaws. He is seemingly perfect in every way, which makes him incredibly bland and uninteresting. I understand wanting trans women to have a chance to see themselves in a fairy-tale romance, but even romance novels have some (however manufactured) drama/conflict between the hero and heroine, or societal pressure keeping them apart. Razia's apparent genius as a strategist also isn't really explained, and at a certain point there is no suspense over what will happen. I kept hoping the plot would get deeper or the other characters would be developed more but was ultimately disappointed.

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for the arc!

So I had to go into this one while trying to ignore some of the comments I had read about the poor use of Trans/Desi themes and representation. That enough had me a little concerned, but I don't want to discuss that in this review. I wan't to discuss the fact that all misrepresentation aside, this book was not very great to me.

There was too much repetition, underdeveloped characters, wonky pacing, and the romance just didn't do it for me.

I just feel like this wasn't quite a final draft?

As much as I enjoyed this book, I wanted more content in the end.

Razia Khan is a transwoman in a fantasy world where the only safe place for her is being a courtesan/dancer. In order to help her dancing troupe, she also steals from the wealthy male clients. She meets the prince of the city and he falls in love with her. This love that can save her from the courtesan life always puts her in the political world where she is avoiding her father, a king from a neighboring land, know that she is still alive.

This is an exciting book and well done. But there are times when it felt it had too much wish fulfillment. Prince Arjun is too perfect. He accepts everything about her very quickly. When he finds out that she is the thief he is looking for, he is just amazed at her ability. They have no disagreements. She just explains and he immediately understands. He doesn't need time to process anything. In the end, I knew nothing about him except his perfection as Razia's partner. He's too cardboard.

So, first things first: I am glad that this book exists. It is important for trans people to be able to see themselves represented in fiction (and by a trans writer no less), and if this helps someone out there feel less alone then that's wonderful.

But setting that aside and looking just to the plot of the book...yeah, I am still baffled at how this book managed to scupper so many chances at interesting scenes and conflicts - and at how early it started to do it! Razia's big secret? She reveals that to her bf in, what, chapter three? After knowing him for all of one night? And then, after that magnificent display of easily averted self-destruction I'm supposed to believe this girl is some genius strategist? Ah, but of course I am, right because the narrative keeps insistently telling me that she's brilliant and that Arjun is just the best. man. ever because he...what does he do again? Keep making promises (that he keeps for a whole week, wow!) and kissing her neck? Wowza, what a guy.

Here's something else the narrative kept insisting upon: recapping Razia's motivations for doing whatever she was doing at that exact moment (my memory's bad, but damn, it's not bad enough to forget what I read five pages ago, alright), and also, my favorite, recounting all the reasons her life was in danger when...she never actually seemed to be in that much danger. Scenes that should have had tremendous impact end with the antagonist shaking his/her finger in Razia's face, insulting her, but then...also giving her her due. And again, this starts EARLY on, so that you know, by the time you reach the big bad that nothing bad is going to happen to her, because why would it? The conflict's been diluted to the point of transparency everywhere else, so why not here too? And I could've dug a conflict-free book, honestly. Seeing Razia go about her day to day would've made an interesting book, because the world itself was so interesting on its own! And yet that ended up getting old too when I realized that this book had given walls - literal walls - more characterization than it had given most of these characters. I mean, I'm sorry but prejudiced men don't just flip mid-conversation because the plot needs Razia to be able to hang in a palace. The dragons felt more real to me than the possibility of that.

Even saying all this I feel like I've barely scratched the surface of all my issues with this book, because there was SO MUCH potential here and I don't think any of it was used to its best effect.

So, yeah, for me, this one's not a keeper. But again, I respect the representation it offers and the readers who may see themselves in its pages. Here's hoping this is only the beginning.

I'm reviewing this as an American cisgender reader, and I recognize my viewpoint on this book is based on those identities. If you're reading this, I encourage you to also seek out reviews from desi and trans readers and writers.

Razia, once the crown prince of a powerful ruler but born with the soul of a woman, is now a hijra. She makes her living as an entertainer, courtesan, and occasional thief. When a fated encounter with another prince draws her into a complex situation, Razia has a chance she's still a strategic and political genius-- and a chance to save everyone she loves. And there are DRAGONS.

I enjoyed the hell out of this book. Reading a book with a trans protagonist is still refreshing to me, and I deeply appreciated that we get to meet Razia secure and happy in her identity. There's little romantic tension, true, but that was pleasant in itself-- how unique to encounter a couple in fiction whose relationship isn't constantly filled with self-inflicted drama! The level of happiness and good fortune smacks of Mary Sue elements at times, but I think trans protagonists deserve all of the nice things right now. The level of happiness at the end of the book was sublime, and left me squealing in delight. Highly recommended.

This was thrilling and deliciously romantic. I loved the world building and the storytelling and the characters! It felt unrealistic, but I don't say that as a bad thing. It was the kind of unrealistic that's deeply fulfilling and leaves you sighing and wishing for a better world.

Through the story of Razia Khan, a "hijra" (someone who is assigned the male gender at birth yet lives as a female), we encounter many hardships that are destined to transform both your thoughts and senses as a reader and your feelings about many complicated issues facing us today. The world created by Boyden offers a rich experience in which you are continually immersed in beautiful descriptions of Indian Cultural and fantasy elements. Razia's connection with her prince drives the story and literally changes her life. The mystique offered by the plot drives this passionate tale as you navigate many moments where you are speechless with the situations she encounters. My only reason for not giving this 5 stars is that I felt lost for a while with all of the Indian words presented and I found myself looking up various words in a vocabulary sense to feel as though I was following closely and making appropriate sense of the action. Overall, I highly recommend this book as it creates a fabulous journey to navigate and I genuinely look forward to more from this series!

Razia Khan is "hijra" - a person who was assigned the male gender at birth but living as a female. As Razia says, "I was born with a woman's soul." She lives with her guru and sisters and entertains wealthy clients with singing, dancing, and other nocturnal delights. She must keep her identity a closely guarded secret because if her father knew where and who she is, she would surely be killed to salvage the family honor. When she meets Arjun, the prince of Bikampur and son of a powerful maharaja, her life begins to change. He has promised to protect her and remain loyal but what will he do when he learns about her past life and about the things she has done as hijra?
This is a fantasy novel that takes pieces of Indian culture, throws in fantastical flying creatures, a transgender cast of characters, and the timeless appeal of a romance. It will appeal to both trans and cisgender teens who will identify with Razia's journey to live her true self in spite of the hardships and pain of doing so. Recommended.

This was a really enjoyable debut read. I liked the details on the back cover and it did not disappoint. Looking forward to the next in the series.

One of my favorite 2020 reads and I have a feeling it will stay that way. Such a rich world with incredibly written characters that will have you rooting for everyone’s happiness. This book will have you raging in defense of its characters, falling in love and laughing all at once. A book about knowing what you’re worth and not accepting anything less. 150% recommend this book.

The good : the world building is really interesting. The action is well done. The descriptions are vivid. The characters have some depths.

The bad : the characters are almost not real. They are either too good or too evil. Yes, the author gives us trans characters that you care about, a love story, vilains and an amazing world they live in but... I felt all through reading it that I was given a picture perfect story that has nothing to do with the culture that inspired it even though the world we are given is fantasy. There were also choices that made me go, nope. The character of Kasim is a big no no for me. His somewhat "redemption" for lack of a better word at the end of the story made me want to scream. Some characters are really young and are put in very adult situations without much preparation I would say. Razia is the all and be all character. It's okay she's the lead character but it felt a bit much : perfect thief, perfect courtisan, really good dancer, amazing war strategist, etc. Same for Arjun and Razia's dera sisters.

I am not sorry I read it but for me the sexual violence, psychological violence and underage exploitation are disturbing to me.

This is a hard one to review, for a bunch of different reasons.

First off, I gather there's a lot of discussion about the author and whether or not she "should" have written a text set in the Mughal Empire. It does appear that Boyden has made this part of history her life's study, as well as engaging the services of a number of sensitivity readers, but as a white woman myself, I'm entirely unqualified to comment on the final product in that regard.

I also almost DNF'd at 50%, because this book goes through a long stretch where Razia is constantly either under threat of sexual menace or remembering a past rape. I don't necessarily say this as a criticism. It reflects what is reality for many women, and trans women in particular, now as in history. But it saturates the text so thoroughly, so relentlessly for many pages, that it put me, personally, in a very difficult headspace for a prolonged section of the text, to the point that I couldn't really appreciate or enjoy the other aspects of the story -- even the zahhaks! Which I should have been totally enthralled by! So I mention it as a note of caution for other readers who may have a similar sensitivity to the topic of sexual assault, and I would have to be very careful when recommending this book to customers because of that.

As to the narrative itself: STEALING THUNDER seems to wander between fantasy romance, adventure story, and political intrigue. It lives somewhere between Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Legacy series and Naomi Novik's Temeraire series, though without the textual density, narrative nuance, or geopolitical complexity of either of those sagas. It could perhaps best be described as a riches-to-rags-to-riches Cinderella tale with a trans heroine. Razia begins life as a prince, runs away from her abusive father to live as her true self, a hijra, which in turn relegates her to life as a courtesan. Her keeper also forces her to steal, for reasons that are never quite clear, since the possible consequences would seem to outweigh the benefits. Razia meets a handsome prince, Arjun, who becomes immediately smitten with her and paves the way for her advancement in the world.

I say a Cinderella tale, but we might also see this as a trans woman's power fantasy. Razia rises above what she has suffered, and certainly in her backstory, she has suffered -- but within the narrative of the book, success is a fairly simple progression for her. Every decision she makes is correct. She wins over her detractors through cunning and a bit of martial prowess. When she makes a life-altering choice, any potential consequences are wiped away by her paramour's money. I kept waiting for her to make a mistake, to show an interesting character flaw, or at the very least for some threat seeded earlier in the text to pay off. But I waited in vain. Razia triumphs without setbacks along the way. The plot contains very little in the way of reversals, which I think may be what gives it that fairy-tale-esque feel. Good wins; evil dies or is converted.

That's not necessarily a bad thing. In some ways, it's great. More types of characters should get the chance to have that sort of power fantasy. But the story lacks the saturation and complexity that makes a novel compelling, to me as a reader, and Razia is almost too perfect of a heroine. (To compare to Kushiel's Legacy -- Phedre is a preternaturally talented heroine, to be sure, but she's a terrifically unreliable narrator and makes more mistakes than you can shake a stick at. And that keeps things interesting.) Once you realize there are never negative consequences, that her plot armor utterly shields her, and that no choice will ever come back to bite her, it lowers the stakes considerably.

Too, every character who isn't Razia feels quite thin. Arjun is unquestioningly supportive and accepting, and those seem to be his only personality traits. It's gratifying to see a character like Razia enjoy that sort of romance, but it doesn't make Arjun interesting. Razia's fellow hijra are more sketched-out than fully-realized: this one's the jealous one, this one's the BFF, this one's the little sister. We hear a fair bit about Razia's desire to be a mother, but mothers in general are thin on the ground -- while the influence of fathers is omnipresent. If Razia ever thinks of her own mother, it went by so fast that I missed it. Nor do we hear about the mothers of the other hijra. Prince Arjun's mother appears in one scene, as a foil to Razia, and seems to exist mostly just to give Razia another chance to show how clever she is. Arjun's sister is also in that scene, wherein she mentions her desire to ride a zahhak -- and then she's never mentioned again. The various antagonists are all cut in the same mold: gruff, paternalistic men who like military things and being rude to women. They vary only in how willing they are to be won over by Razia -- and as I mentioned above, all the ones who survive are won over by the end of the book. (Spoiler) This includes, in another component I found troubling, the man who raped Razia when she was a child of eleven. He's the antag with the most personality, the one who causes the most turbulence within the narrative itself, and though Razia doesn't exactly forgive him, their dynamic is more buddy-buddy than I was comfortable with after he decides that he can respect her for her mind and she decides he must have grown up a bit. Y'know. In the years since he raped a child. It's... it's not great. (/spoiler)

Overall, I could recommend this to a reader looking to see a trans heroine in a positive light. If that's what you need, then this certainly delivers. I think Razia will resonate with readers desirous of a queer fairy tale, and perhaps be a comfort to some of them. To someone looking for a nuanced and complex fantasy novel, however, I would have to point elsewhere.

I enjoyed this book. The only thing keeping it from being a 4 star was the fact that I had to constantly look up the meaning of the indian terminology. I didn't realise until I have finished the book on my kindle that there was a glossary in the back.

I do feel that it got repetitive. I understand that the main character is a hijra, but sometimes I felt like I was being beat over the head with it and it was said over and over again.

Arc for honest review from Netgalley.

Set in a richly detailed world home to flying serpents, Stealing Thunder follows Razia Khan, dancer, thief, and courtesan as she catches the eye of local prince Arjun and gets pulled into a political conspiracy that may reveal her past and put her future in jeopardy. The reader discovers quite early that Razia was born Salim, Crown Prince of the neighbouring country of Nizam, and if her father ever found out she had transitioned to live her own truth, she would be put to death. Razia will need all her wits plus the skills she was taught as a child to maneuver the politics and win a place for herself in Arjun's life.

This was a face-paced adventure through a colourful landscape. Razia shines as a strong protagonist who is honest about the difficulties of living her truth and completely unappologetic about it at the same time. Readers of all genders are sure to appreciate her strength of character and the lengths she will go to in order to protect her new family.

WOW I am so so impressed. Alina Boyden has created an immersive, engaging world, but not anything too unfamiliar. Seeing the Trans community represented with love and respect makes me love this book all the more. I want my own zahhak, and I want a motion picture adaptation ASAP.

I devoured this magnificent queer fantasy in one night. It's got dragons and war and alliances and thievery and a kickass heroine. So, basically, everything you could ever want in a book.